Calendar with removable portions
The present invention provides a calendar desk pad, comprising a base member, a plurality of monthly calendar pages bound to the base member, wherein the calendar pages have at least one perforation or fold line located between the days or weeks on the calendar.
Latest ACCO BRANDS CORPORATION Patents:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/395,967 filed Mar. 14, 2012, which is a National Phase application of PCT Application No. PCT/US10/047424 filed Sep. 1, 2010, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/260,964 filed on Nov. 13, 2009 each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to desk pads and more particularly a calendar desk pad.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe current invention is an improvement on the traditional desk pad calendar. On these calendars it is common to have several pages attached together with a single month on each page. Accordingly a user can only see one month at a time without flipping pages. This inability to see into the next month without remembering to look ahead makes it difficult for the user to remember meetings, appointments, and/or due dates occurring early in the next month. The current invention creates a user friendly calendar that allows the user to remove or fold a portion of the current month from their view after the time period has passed, thus allowing the user to view the upcoming days and/or weeks in the next month.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a calendar desk pad, comprising a base and a plurality of calendar sheets removably attached to the base and lying in stacked, respective planes that overlie the base and a perforated line separating at least one calendar week from the remainder of the page. The present invention also contemplates a calendar desk pad, comprising a base and a plurality of calendar sheets removably attached to the base and lying in stacked, respective planes that overlie the base and a fold line separating at least one calendar week from the remainder of the page. The present invention also contemplates a calendar sheet having a single month on the sheet and having a perforation following at least one week in the month. The present invention also contemplates a calendar sheet having a single month on the sheet and having a fold line following at least one week in the month.
Referring to the figures, the continuous calendar 10 of the current invention may have a plurality of pages 24 bound together on one or more sides by one or more binding mechanism(s) 12 and where the plurality of pages comprise two or more calendar pages 26 and wherein one or more calendar pages 26 may have one or more perforations or fold lines 14 that allow a portion of the page to be removed or folded. The calendar page 26 may have a traditional month calendar format with the month indicator 18 placed in one or more locations of each calendar page 26 and showing each day of the month. Such a calendar page 26 may have a space designated to allow the user to fill in appointments or the like on each day. The desk pad calendar of the present invention may also have one or more spaces 20 on a calendar page to allow the user to write notes or comments. Such calendar page 26 may also have a space to view previous and following months.
The continuous desk pad 10 may have its binding mechanism 12 located across the bottom of the desk pad as compared to the calendar orientation. Such a location may allow the user to more easily remove or fold an upper portion of the calendar page 26 along line 14. Line 14 may be perforated to allow the user to easily remove that portion of the calendar page 26. Line 14 may also be manufactured such that the calendar page 26 creases easily in that location by using score lines. There are a variety of methods to manufacture a removable portion of the page or an easily folded portion of a page. Some methods may include the use of spaced breaks in the page, perforations, holes, weakened spots in the page, embossing, debossing or any combination or these. The appropriate method to use may be determined by manufacturing preferences.
Line 14 may be designed to run parallel to the orientation of the weeks on the calendar page 26. Line 14 may be located beneath the first full week 30 of the month. Line 14 may be located beneath the second full week 32 of the month. Line 14 may be located beneath the third full week 34 of the month. Multiple lines 14 may be placed on each calendar page. The calendar pages 26 may have two or more perforations. The perforations or score lines of line 14 may extend across the majority of calendar sheet 26 to more easily allow the user to fold or separate the top portion of the page.
The calendar page 26 may be removably attached to binding 12. Perforations 28 may be placed along the edge of binding mechanism 12. It is to be understood that score lines could be used in lieu of perforations to allow to user to more easily fold back the pages of the desk pad calendar. In the alternative binding mechanism 12 could be located at two or more corners. The binding mechanism 12 may be cardboard or plastic. Binding mechanism 12 may be comprised of adhesive material, paper, fabric, staples, wire, spiral, tape or stitching. The two or more corner binding mechanism(s) 12 may be triangular, round or any other shape. They may also be paper, wire, staples, adhesive, tape, fabric stitching or any other similar materials or combinations thereof. One or more of the corner binding mechanism 12 may be removably attached, loosely holding the plurality of pages 26 together.
It is to be understood that the desk pad calendar may be of a variety of sizes and shapes based on manufacturing preferences. The desk pad calendar may be rectangular, square, round, oval triangular, star shaped or any other geometric or non-geometric shape. It is to be understood that based on the traditional calendar organization the rectangular shape may have some benefits.
The desk pad calendar could be sized and shaped to be portable. The desk pad may be sized and shaped to fit within a notebook with holes 22 drilled into the binding. In this design it may be preferable to have the perforations 28 or fold line 28 to remove or fold the one or more calendar pages 16 located inside of the holes 22. The calendar itself may be foldable as described in U.S. Publication 20070089331. The benefits of portability would allow a user to easily take the calendar into the classroom or into meetings as needed.
The calendar dimensions could have a height or distance from the one or more binding mechanism(s) 12 to the edge of equal to or less than 10 inches, of equal to or less than 15 inches, of equal to or less than 25 inches, or greater than 25 inches. The desk pad calendar may have a width parallel to the one or more binding mechanism(s) 12 of equal to or less than 10 inches, of equal to or less than 15 inches, of equal to or less than 25 inches, or greater than 25 inches. The desk pad calendar may have a width greater than its height.
It is also to be understood that a calendar sheet could be made that includes the features described previously of the current invention. Namely, the invention contemplates a calendar sheet with a monthly calendar printed thereon and having a fold line 14. The calendar sheet as discussed may have a perforated line 14 which would allow a portion of the calendar sheet to be removed.
It should be understood that changes may be made to the invention described herein without departing from the full scope and spirit of the present invention as set forth in the claims below.
Claims
1. A calendar comprising:
- a plurality of calendar pages removably attached together and arranged in a stack, wherein each calendar page displays a calendar month, each page having a first tear guideline and a second tear guideline, wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each of said plurality of pages are aligned with the first and second tear guidelines of the other ones of said plurality of pages, and wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each of said plurality of calendar page are the only two tear guidelines of each page extending an entire dimension thereacross from an outer edge to another opposite outer edge; and
- wherein the plurality of pages are attached together at or adjacent to a bottom edge thereof, and wherein each of the pages are unbound at a top edge thereof positioned opposite the bottom edge.
2. The calendar of claim 1 wherein one of said first or second tear guidelines of each page extends between and precisely delineates two full weeks of the month calendar.
3. The calendar of claim 2 wherein the one of said first or second tear guidelines of each page extends between and precisely delineates another two full weeks of the month calendar.
4. The calendar of claim 1 further comprising a binding mechanism which binds the plurality of pages together, wherein the binding mechanism is oriented and extends parallel to each of said first tear guidelines and said second tear guidelines.
5. The calendar of claim 1 further comprising a binding mechanism which binds the plurality of pages together, wherein one of said first or second tear guidelines is in a top third of the associated page furthest from the binding mechanism and the other one of said first or second tear guidelines is in a bottom third of the associated page closest to the binding mechanism.
6. The calendar of claim 1 wherein each tear guideline comprises a perforation line, or a score line, or a crease line, or a line of spaced breaks, or a line of holes, or a line of weakened spots, or a line of embossing, or a line of debossing, or combinations thereof.
7. The calendar of claim 1 wherein each tear guideline entirely and continuously extends from an outer edge of the calendar to an opposite edge thereof.
8. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each page is aligned with said first and second tear guideline of an adjacent page.
9. The calendar of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of pages has the same size and shape.
10. The calendar of claim 9 wherein each of said plurality of pages displays a differing, entire calendar month thereon.
11. The calendar of claim 10 wherein each of said plurality of pages displays a month name thereon corresponding to the calendar month display thereon.
12. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said plurality of pages includes at least twelve pages, each page corresponding to a calendar month, and wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each of said at least twelve pages are aligned.
13. The calendar of claim 1 wherein each of said pages are separate and discrete pieces of material.
14. The calendar of claim 1 wherein each calendar portion displays only days associated with a single calendar month.
15. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said first tear guideline and said second tear guideline divide the associated page into exactly three portions.
16. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said first tear guideline and said second tear guideline are each continuous tear guidelines.
17. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said first tear guideline is not aligned with said second tear guideline.
18. A calendar comprising:
- a plurality of pages removably attached together, each page being a unitary sheet displaying a calendar portion thereon and having a first tear guideline and a second tear guideline extending an entire dimension thereacross and through said calendar portion, wherein each of said pages are separate and discrete pieces of material and wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each page is aligned with said first and second tear guideline of an adjacent page, wherein said plurality of pages are bound together at or adjacent to a bottom of said calendar, and wherein each page of said plurality of pages lacks any tear guidelines extending across an entire dimension of said page in a direction perpendicular to said first tear guideline and said second tear guideline.
19. The calendar of claim 18 further comprising a binding mechanism binding the plurality of pages together, and wherein said binding mechanism is spaced away from said calendar portion of each page.
20. The calendar of claim 18 further comprising a binding mechanism binding the plurality of pages together, and wherein said binding mechanism is positioned and extends along an outer edge of said plurality of sheets, and wherein said binding mechanism is oriented generally parallel to said first tear guideline and said second tear guideline.
21. The calendar of claim 18 wherein each page displays an entire calendar month portion thereon.
22. The calendar of claim 18 wherein each calendar portion includes individual days presented in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom order.
23. The calendar of claim 18 wherein said calendar portion is arranged with the calendar portion in a readable orientation, and wherein said bottom of said calendar is a bottom with respect to said readable orientation.
24. The calendar of claim 18 wherein each calendar portion has at least seven columns such that said calendar portion is configured to display an entire week in a single row thereof.
25. A calendar comprising:
- a plurality of pages removably attached together, each page having the same size and shape and displaying an entire month calendar portion thereon, each page having a first tear guideline and a second tear guideline extending an entire dimension thereacross and through said calendar portion, wherein said plurality of pages are bound together at or adjacent to a bottom edge thereof, wherein each of the plurality of pages are unbound at a top edge thereof positioned opposite the bottom edge, and wherein said first tear guidelines and said second tear guideline of each of the plurality of pages are the only two tear guidelines extending an entire dimension thereacross from one outer edge to an another opposite outer edge.
26. The calendar of claim 25 wherein said first and second tear guidelines of each of said plurality of pages are aligned.
27. The calendar of claim 25 wherein each of the plurality of pages lacks any tear guidelines extending perpendicular to said first tear guideline and said second tear guideline.
28. The calendar of claim 25 wherein said plurality of pages are bound together at or adjacent to a bottom edge thereof, and wherein each of the pages are unbound at a top edge thereof positioned opposite the bottom edge.
29. The calendar of claim 25 wherein said first tear guideline extends through said calendar such that portions of said calendar portion are positioned both above and below both said first tear guideline.
30. A calendar comprising:
- a plurality of single, unitary pages removably attached together, each page displaying an entire month calendar portion thereon and having a tear guideline extending an entire dimension thereacross and through said calendar portion, wherein the tear guideline of each page is aligned with the tear guideline of an adjacent page, wherein each calendar portion includes individual days presented in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom order, and wherein each of said plurality of pages lacks any tear guidelines extending across an entire dimension of said page in a direction perpendicular to said tear guideline, and wherein the pages are removably attached together along a bottom edge thereof.
| 1432504 | October 1922 | Vivian |
| 1464191 | August 1923 | West |
| 1519643 | December 1924 | Arsdale |
| 1594665 | August 1926 | Dana |
| 1716600 | June 1929 | Rehder |
| 2469177 | May 1949 | Ruffner |
| 2722071 | November 1955 | Paschal |
| 2731746 | January 1956 | Newman |
| 2787071 | April 1957 | Friedman |
| 3731415 | May 1973 | Shore |
| 4531314 | July 30, 1985 | Parent |
| 4793634 | December 27, 1988 | Alloggiamento |
| 4798402 | January 17, 1989 | Pazicni |
| 5222052 | June 22, 1993 | Salame |
| 5329711 | July 19, 1994 | Dewey |
| 5339546 | August 23, 1994 | Rahwan |
| 5661918 | September 2, 1997 | Malcolm et al. |
| 5799423 | September 1, 1998 | Malino |
| 6877262 | April 12, 2005 | Bianco |
| 7093857 | August 22, 2006 | Martin |
| 7246458 | July 24, 2007 | Ternovits et al. |
| 20020114220 | August 22, 2002 | Cunningham |
| 20040197744 | October 7, 2004 | Basu et al. |
| 20050040070 | February 24, 2005 | Adams |
| 20050241197 | November 3, 2005 | Ternovits et al. |
| 20060059734 | March 23, 2006 | Drie |
| 20070089331 | April 26, 2007 | Howes |
| 20070125925 | June 7, 2007 | Busam et al. |
| 20070147712 | June 28, 2007 | Ozdeger Donovan et al. |
| 20070278783 | December 6, 2007 | Carpenter |
| 20080104868 | May 8, 2008 | Drie |
| 20090034845 | February 5, 2009 | Saund |
| 20090096334 | April 16, 2009 | Sward et al. |
| 20100035224 | February 11, 2010 | Minard |
| 3143667 | May 1983 | DE |
| 1226001 | July 1960 | FR |
| 2257433 | August 1975 | FR |
| WO9800052 | January 1998 | WO |
| WO0136193 | May 2001 | WO |
- DE 3143667 Translation.
- International Search Report and International Preliminary Report for PCT/US10/047424, Oct. 29, 2010.
- “Dataday” calendar photo. Also “Dataday” advertisement. Advertisement downloaded from Internet on Mar. 20, 2012.
- Translation of FR1226001 (Jul. 6, 1960).
- CA, Examination Report issued Apr. 18, 2017, Canadian Patent Application No. 2,772,645, 3 pages.
Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 24, 2014
Date of Patent: Jul 4, 2017
Patent Publication Number: 20160023494
Assignee: ACCO BRANDS CORPORATION (Lake Zurich, IL)
Inventors: Megan M. Meyer (Waxhaw, NC), Thomas J. Africa (Lebanon, OH), Sherry L. Jones (Pataskala, OH), Edward P. Busam (Mason, OH), Lisa K. Brooks (West Chester, OH), Danielle L. Osborne (Dayton, OH)
Primary Examiner: Kyle Grabowski
Application Number: 14/339,758
International Classification: B42D 5/04 (20060101); B42D 5/06 (20060101);
